International Archives Day
post news network
Bhubaneswar: International Archives Day was observed in the capital city Friday with inauguration of a photo exhibition (from 1805-1976) on Lord Jagannath, Saturday. The exhibition, which showcased various documents, pictures related to Lord Jagannath rituals, various jewelry descriptions and the ‘will’ of Late Maharaja Ranjit Singh on handing over Kohinoor diamond to Lord Jagannath, was inaugurated by Minister of Tourism and Culture Ashok Panda at the State Archives here.
Two re-edited books were also released on the occasion. The first book – the Arnott Report, comprises reports by British civil engineer E H Arnott) on all the temples in Bhubaneswar, their pre-condition, conservation work and detailed reports of each monument in Bhubaneswar. This book was originally published in England in 1903 and now it has been republished with new comparative studies on conservation of temples in Bhubaneswar.
The second book titled ‘Archival Bulletin of Odisha State’ is based on activities of the State Archives from the year 1987 to 2018.
The monthly Sanskruti Charcha of State Archives organised by Department of Odia Language, Literature and Culture was launched on YouTube on the occasion.
Speaking at the event, Panda said, “On this very special day I call upon every members of the State Archives, historians and researchers to document their work so that the future generations are able to know about the glorious culture and heritage of the state.” Development Commissioner and additional chief secretary of Odisha R. Balkrishnan also stressed on the need for archives and documentation.
Key speaker at the occasion Jeevan Patnaik said, “Based on International Archives Day’s theme ‘governance, memory and heritage,’ the State Archives has achieved some success in keeping documents safe. However, from today onwards both the officials and the government should try to reconstruct old documents, create more awareness for the upkeep of documents, preservation of pictures and books.”
Several editorial board members of the State Archives, including Mahesh Prasad Das, Ashok Patnaik, Jeevan Patnaik, Vivek Patnaik and Bijay Kumar Rath, were felicitated on the occasion. Ex-Curator of the State Archives Kishore Chandra Mohapatra was also feted for his extraordinary work during his tenure.